Edo, Koishikawa Kohinagayanagi Town——
——This...is the Trial Guard Hall?
Qingdeng looked at a slightly plain-looking house in the distance with suspicious eyes.
Outside a medium-sized house, there is a plaque with a string of Chinese characters written on it, which reads "Tianren Rishinryu Test Guard Hall".
——Why can’t I hear any sounds of sword practice?
Inside the Trial Guard Hall, it was quiet...
I couldn't hear the sound of bamboo swords clashing with each other, and it felt like there was no one in the trial guard hall...
With this question in his mind, Qingdeng walked slowly towards the trial defense hall.
As soon as he took a few steps forward, Qingdeng suddenly saw a tall and muscular young man walking out of the museum carrying a bucket and a rag.
The young man walked up to the plaque that read "Naturally Rishin-ryu Examination Hall" - he probably wanted to wipe the plaque.
At this moment, the young man spotted Qingdeng walking towards their sword hall.
Qingdeng and the young man's eyes met in mid-air.
Then——
thump.
The sound of buckets and rags falling to the ground was heard.
The young man threw the bucket and rag in his hand firmly to the ground, and then appeared in front of Qingdeng as fast as a flash of light.
"Good morning! Are you coming to my training hall to learn swordsmanship?"
Qingden was startled by this young man who suddenly appeared in front of him and subconsciously took two steps back.
Looking at Qingdeng retreating quickly, the young man was stunned for a moment, then looked ashamed.
"Sorry, sorry, I was impatient. I'm really sorry for scaring you."
After that, the young man cleared his throat, and then showed a somewhat naive smile to Qingden:
"My Excellency, Isamu Kondo! I am the teacher of this imperial examination hall! Who is your Majesty?"
[Note: "Shihandai" can be understood as an acting master, responsible for assisting the sword master in carrying out teaching tasks. 】
After Isamu Kondo introduced himself, Aoto quickly called home politely and explained his purpose of visit concisely and concisely:
"I'm Ju Qingdeng. I heard that your hall is a sword hall with excellent martial arts, so I want to join your hall and practice swordsmanship."
While calling his door, Aoden looked up and down at Kondo Isamu's appearance.
The first impression Kondo Isamu gave to Aoto... was that he was very energetic.
He has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and is tall and strong, about 1.8 meters tall. He looks quite energetic.
Among his facial features, the one that left the deepest impression on Qingdeng was his mouth.
His mouth is very big.
With this big mouth, it feels like you could swallow a fist alive without any problem at all.
However, although this man's mouth is big, it does not have a great negative effect on his appearance. Looking at his entire face, he still feels quite handsome, a masculine type of handsome guy.
The only flaw is... he has a menstrual haircut.
This outrageously ugly hairstyle directly reduced Kondo’s appearance by 50%.
The Tsukiyo haircut was the most popular hairstyle in Japan during the Edo period. About 9 out of 10 men had this hairstyle.
Its general appearance...can be understood as a variant version of "Mediterranean Sea".
All the hair on the top of the head is shaved, leaving only the hair on the back of the head and the temples. The hair on the back of the head and temples is braided into a bun and placed on the top of the shaved head - this is the Tsukiyo head.
This hairstyle was cool, easy to wear a helmet, and you didn't have to worry about your hair spreading out and blocking your vision when fighting. Therefore, it became popular among the samurai class first, and then led the common people to also start to wear this hairstyle.
Looking at Kondo's Tsukiyo haircut, he twitched the corners of his mouth. Qingto couldn't help but raise his hand and touch his hair - he was very lucky: his hairstyle was full hair, not Tsukiyo hairdo.
The so-called total hair is to keep the hair on the top of the head and only braid the hair into a bun.
Although Qingden also thinks this hairstyle is ugly, no matter how ugly it is, it is still thousands of times better than Tsukiyo's hairstyle.
"Oh! I really want to learn the sword!"
The smile on Kondo's face instantly became a lot more enthusiastic.
However, in the next moment, Kondo's smiling face suddenly froze, and then the smile turned into embarrassment.
"Ah... I almost forgot... our master is not in the sword hall today... If you want to become a disciple, you have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest..."
"Tomorrow?" Qingdeng stared.
Japan is also a country that attaches great importance to the term "respecting teachers and respecting morality."
When learning swordsmanship in a swordsmanship hall, you generally have to pay homage to the master of the swordsmanship hall, and then go through a bunch of miscellaneous etiquette before you can be considered an introduction and you can officially start learning swordsmanship.
Therefore - if the master of the sword hall happens to be absent, then generally no new apprentices will be accepted during the period when the master is absent.
"I'm sorry..." Kondo's face was full of apologies, "But Master is indeed not here today... If you want to get started, please choose a date."
The Sword of Damocles of the "Radical Rejection Faction" is now hanging over Qingdeng's head all the time. Under the current situation, Qingdeng does not want to waste a day. He just wants to learn the sword as soon as possible and copy his talent as soon as possible.
, and asked him to come back another day, he would naturally refuse.
"I don't have time tomorrow! Do I have to wait for your master to come back before I can start learning swordsmanship?"
After today's holiday, Qingden will have to go to work at the monastery tomorrow, and it will take at least two days before he can have another holiday.
"This..." Kondo looked embarrassed.
Seeing Kondo's troubled expression, Qingto suddenly remembered the "new customer benefits" that Kiryu's boss had just given him.
Aomori took out from his arms the piece of paper that Kiryu's boss had given him just now, with the four characters "Kiryu Kazuma" written on it.
Before he could say anything, Kondo opened his eyes when he saw the note.
"This is...were you introduced by Mr. Kiryu?"
"Yes." Qingto nodded quickly, "It was Mr. Kiryu who introduced you to me."
"Did Mr. Kiryu introduce me here..."
There was a little more confusion between Kondo's brows.
After a long while, he took a deep breath and nodded vigorously:
"...Okay, since Mr. Kiryu introduced me, let's make an exception."
"Let's do this - you pay the tuition today and write down your information in the apprentice book. When the master comes back later, you can make up for the apprenticeship ceremony. What do you think?"
For Qingdeng, any of these introductory programs are fine, as long as they allow him to learn swordsmanship and fight with others as soon as possible.
"Of course." Qingdeng nodded vigorously without thinking.
"Then come in with me!"
Kondo turned around and picked up the bucket and rag he had just thrown on the ground, and led Qingto into the trial hall.
The imperial examination hall is a very typical architectural style of this era - a house surrounded by a circle of earth walls, and the gap between the house and the earth wall is a small courtyard.
Aoto asked Kondo curiously while taking back the note Kiryu gave him into his arms.
"Kondo-kun, do you have a close relationship with Mr. Kiryu from Senshiya?"
"Well... to be more precise, I have a deep friendship with my father... ah, that is, with the master." Kondo sighed, "When the master planned to build a training hall here, Mr. Kiryu
It helped us a lot.”
"Father?" Hearing the word "Father" that Kondo accidentally blurted out just now, Qingto raised an eyebrow.
He suddenly recalled - Boss Kiryu seemed to have told him just now: the current owner and master of the Shoeikan is the third generation head of the Tenurishin-ryu clan: Shusuke Kondo.
He happens to have the same surname as the Kondo Isamu in front of him.
"I didn't expect you to be the young master of this sword hall." Qingdeng said with a smile, "Being the young master of the sword hall must be very hard, right? You have to help manage the sword hall, and you will also be extra busy when you practice swordsmanship.
care'."
"Yes." Kondo smiled bitterly and sighed, "Ever since I was young, I have received more reprimands than other brothers in the sword hall... Well, this can be considered a responsibility that people like us have to bear.
.”
After the two briefly chatted for a few words, the atmosphere between them became much more harmonious.
"Tangerine-kun, have you ever learned swordsmanship before?"
"Having only learned some wild tricks from my late father is almost the same as not having learned swordsmanship."
"That means you have some basic knowledge."
At this time, Kondo lowered his gaze and looked at the inruga on Qingto's right waist.
"You have the seal cage of the enshrinement office hanging on your waist. I wonder if you are enshrining the envoy in the northern or southern institution now?"
Qingdeng always carried this seal, which could prove his status as an official working in the city government, and tied it around his right waist.
"Yes." Qingto nodded, "I am doing my duty in Kitamachi. It is the same as I am in Dingmachi."
"Sadachi return?"
Kondo was startled as if he had heard some incredible secret.
I saw admiration slowly appearing in the eyes this strong man cast towards Qingdeng.
"I didn't expect you to be the same as Sadauchi Hui..."
"I'm not afraid that you will know - I have always admired the 'Sanchai' samurai who have been working hard to maintain public order in Edo."
"Thank you for your hard work and hard work in maintaining public order in Edo."
After saying that, Kondo stopped and bowed solemnly to Aoden.
"You are exaggerating." Qingden stood sideways with a helpless expression, not receiving any courtesy from Kondo, "Our 'three times' are just doing what we should do."
Edo, which would be renamed "Tokyo" in later generations, is currently the largest city in Japan.
In order to prevent the administrative office responsible for managing Edo from gaining too much power, two administrative offices were set up in Edo - the Hokumachi administrative office and the southern administrative office, referred to as "Northern administrative office" and "Nanban administrative office".
The towns and cities are governed separately.
To put it simply - Edo has 2 city governments and 2 mayors.
The place where Aomori currently works is the Kitamachi Office.
The most shameless and greatest privilege possessed by the samurai class is that they are Shiqing Shilu.
Japan in the Edo period did not have an imperial examination system and adopted a Shiqing Shilu system similar to China's pre-Qin period.
The people responsible for serving as officials in the government were the samurai class.
Only people from the samurai class can serve as officials in the government, and civilians are absolutely not qualified to be officials. Certain official positions can only be held by people from certain samurai families.
Common people can only circulate in the three strata of "agriculture, industry and commerce" forever and ever, and it is absolutely impossible for common people to have official status.
In modern terms, this means that samurai warriors do not need to take any civil service examinations. They are born to be civil servants and officials for generations to come.
In the Edo period, Japan's political ecology can be roughly summarized as "the father dies and the son succeeds" and "the upper-level official positions are taken by the superior samurai in turn, and the lower-level official positions are taken by the lower-level samurai in turn."
It was Aoto who took his father's place and became a member of the Edo Hokuban shogunate.
The two major administrative offices in Edo manage Edo, which has a population of one million. Many people may think that the Edo administrative offices, which shoulder such heavy responsibilities, must have too many office workers.
But in fact... the current situation is terrible.
Take the Hokuban Office to which Ayoto belongs as an example - excluding the handymen responsible for sweeping the floors, the Kitamachi Office has a total of officials: 1 from the town office, 25 from the general office, and 120 from the same office.
Town officials are similar to the mayor, Yuli is similar to the middle-level cadres, and Tongxin is the grassroots staff.
The above are all the officials of the Beifan Institute...a total of 146 people...
The establishment of the Southern Office is exactly the same as that of the Northern Office, so the total number of people working in the two offices is only a pitiful 292...
As an important government organization responsible for managing the entire city, the Executive Office is naturally divided into many departments, and each department has different tasks.
For example - "Yangshengjiaojuhui" has one person, Yuli, and two people, Tongxin. They are responsible for supervising the conditions of the poor receiving treatment in the health center.
"Seibashikake" is composed of one officer and two officers, who are responsible for patrolling and inspecting all bridges in Edo City.
The departments responsible for catching thieves and solving crimes, maintaining public order in Edo, and performing modern police functions are the Sadachi Kai, collectively known as the "three kai", the temporary kai and the secret kai.
The department that Aoshito belongs to is the Sadachi Kai.
The daily work of the Sadachui is to patrol various parts of Edo, and when a case comes, he is responsible for handling and solving the case.
The temporary hui selects elites from those who have worked long-term in the Ding-machi hui to form this department, which is responsible for guiding and assisting the Ding-machi hui.
The Secret Hui is responsible for espionage activities, and is responsible for patrolling various urban areas in Edo after disguising themselves to collect information for colleagues from the Sadachi Hui and the temporary Hui.
Once there is any operation to clamp down on a large-scale criminal organization, such as last night's arrest operation against the "Ren Yi Zhong", it will all be handed over to "Sanchai".
There are very few office staff in the whole administrative office, so naturally there will not be many people who can be assigned to the "three times".
Regardless of whether it is the Northern Bansuo or the Nanbansuo, the Dingchohui only has 2 Yuli and 6 Tongxin.
The organization of the temporary hui is the same as that of the Sadachi hui, with 2 and 6 doshin under its jurisdiction.
The Secret Hui is the department with the smallest number of people in the entire town executive office - there are only two colleagues, and there is no middle-level cadre to serve as a department. All members are under the direct command of the town executive.
In other words - when the two police stations in the south and north are added together, the police force responsible for catching thieves and maintaining public order in the whole city has only 8 officers and 28 officers, a total of 36 people...
If in a novel, the author of the novel comes up with the setting that "a city with a population of one million only has a regular police force", there will definitely be someone who is self-righteous and thinks that he is a master of urban management, but in fact he just lacks knowledge.
In addition, readers who think they are smart are always complaining about "the author is bad at writing, how can a city with a population of one million only have so few regular police officers, why don't you write if you don't know how to write".
However, this is an ironclad fact. There were indeed only a few regular policemen in Edo.
Because the "Sankai" samurai shoulder the responsibility of guarding the city's security, it is natural that they are welcomed and respected by some people.
Judging from Kondo's current appearance, he should belong to this type of person.
After Aotobu revealed his identity, Kondo's attitude towards Aotobo became obviously much more enthusiastic.
He enthusiastically introduced Qingdeng, the new disciple, to the Trial Guard Hall in detail.
"Our trial clinic usually opens at five o'clock in the morning (8 a.m.) and closes near six o'clock in the evening (6 p.m.)."
"Usually not until the afternoon do more apprentices come to practice sword practice."
"Because many people like to sleep in in the morning, there are not many apprentices who come to practice sword practice in the morning."
"Just like now - there is only one apprentice practicing swordsmanship in the dojo. You will see him later."
Having said this, Kondo suddenly paused, then showed a meaningful smile and whispered to Qingto:
"You will be surprised later when you see the only apprentice currently practicing swordsmanship in the dojo."
"Let me give you a warning first - that person is a boy."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Qingdeng asked doubtfully, "Does that person's face look like a girl's?"
"Well... you'll find out later." Kondo smiled mysteriously.
While Aoto was talking to Kondo Masaru, he was already very close to the dojo of the Shiweikan without even realizing it.
call……
call……
At this time, Qingden faintly heard the sound of the bamboo sword being swung through the air from inside the dojo.
The door to the dojo is now open.
Kondo, who was leading the way, quickened his pace a little, then stood at the entrance of the dojo and looked into the dojo.
"Well, that is the only apprentice I told you about who is currently practicing swordsmanship in the dojo. He is practicing swordsmanship. Let's go in later."
Aoto, who had been following Kondo closely, looked towards the dojo after hearing Kondo's words——
"Well……!"
The moment his eyes touched the figure in the center of the dojo, the strong impact made Qingden immediately let out a low exclamation subconsciously.
In the middle of the dojo, standing...a beautiful boy who I can't think of any other adjective to describe besides being cute.
*******
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This chapter has been completed!